Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic: Endar Spire
by tankgirly
Summary: Onboard the Republic ship Endar Spire to oversee the mission, Carth Onasi felt a sense of something unusual about the last minute addition of the crews-a Twi'lek called Skye Imarr.
1. Chapter 1

**NB: I found them hidden in my harddrive when I was making computer upgrade. They were written long ago for KOTOR fan website. It had long since shut down. Memories of them flooded back and I decided to post them here. Hope you like it as much as I do.**

**Skye Imarr belong to me, all the rest belong to BioWare and Lucas Art.**

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**Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic**

_**Endar Spire**_

**Part One**

Carth Onasi stared at the screen of his datapad, his fingers absentmindedly tabbing at the screen edges. His dark brown hair, with only a few strands springing away around his forehead, was tamed and neatly tugged behind his ears, and his strong jaw line was covered with slight stubbly whiskers. He had undone the buttons of his jacket, his board shoulders rested deep into the back of the chair, relaxed, with his long legs crossed and resting on the navigation panel. It had been mostly quiet since the ship took off from Coruscant, and he had little to do but sit in the cockpit most of the time.

His eyes fell onto some of the data shown on the datapad: "Damage Report on Sith-Destroyed Planets." The report was outdated, but he half-heartily tabbed the file. The file instantly opened up, displaying several figures and statistics. Carth scanned through the lists of planets and systems, finally stopping at a planet that had been echoed in his heart thousands of times: _Telos_.

Auburn eyes narrowed and darkened with anger and haterd. He sat up straight slightly and punched in the name he was looking for. The datapad went busy for a while, and when it finally stopped and automatically drew out, he seemed to find what he was after.

_Morgana Onasi: Status: DECEASED_.

Carth squeezed his eyes tightly, as though some painful memories were going through his mind. When he opened his eyes again, he punched in another name, which he also had done so many times in the past.

_Dustil Onasi_.

On the status column right behind the name, there was a red flashing note_: MISSING_.

A mixture of rage and sadness once again filled with his heart, as it had always been every time. He cursed under his breath, hands fisted.

"I swear to the Force, I am going to get you!" he muttered, nearly throwing the whole pad to the wall. "You definitely have to pay for this!"

_But where is he?_ Carth wondered, for the umpteenth time. The galaxy wasn't exactly small, so when would they eventually run into each other if he was just browsing around like a headless fly? The only reason he was onboard this fleet was because there was the dimmest chance that he might bump into him. Now, by the look of it, there wouldn't be any, just like any other trip he had taken previously.

"Urrrrh, sir?" A Republic soldier appeared at the door, hesitantly interrupting his brooding thought.

"Yes?" Carth replied impatiently.

"Admiral wanted me to forward this to you." The soldier handed over a datapad.

"What's this?" Carth frowned, inspecting the datapad in his hand.

"Not very clear, sir. It looks like an additional crew report."

"Additional...?" His brow quirked: "... All right, thanks," Carth nodded.

The soldier left with great relief.

Carth prodded the datapad to draw out the information. Additional crew? He was sure there wasn't any last minute additional crew the last time he had a meeting with the Admiral. He looked into the report. Sure enough, there were a few last minute additions, mostly requested by the Jedi who were onboard the ship. Carth quickly scanned through the list. He noticed there was something unusual. On the very bottom of the additional crewmember list, there was a female Twi'lek Republic soldier's name: _Skye Imarr_

A Twi'lek? He tabbed the datapad to pull out more stats about this Twi'lek. First class elite, high combat skills, multilingual, excellent weapon knowledge… As Carth read on, the soldier appeared to be perfect. _Too perfect_, he thought.

"C2-M2, give me the soldier data file on Skye Imarr." Carth returned to his chair and ran a search on his protocol droid.

"REQUEST ACCEPTED: Searching for soldier data file: Skye Imarr." The droid repeated his request and started the search engine immediately: "One RESULT FOUND. Skye Imarr. Species: Twi'lek, born on YATH, Years After the Hyperspace, 53614, First Rank Elite. Recruited and trained at the Republic training facility on YATH 53640, Assigned mission to date: 3. First Class Combat Training, Excellent knowledge on various galaxy languages and weapons…" In other words, it was exactly what it was listed in the datapad. Again, Carth thought, too perfect.

"Alec, we need to discuss about this...additional crewmember." Carth walked into Admiral's office a few minutes later. "Do you know anything about this Twi'lek soldier named Skye Imarr?"

"Everything had been provided on the datapad, Carth," Admiral Alec Baxter looked at Carth with annoyance, felt slightly disturbed by his rude entry.

"We both know that was just the official record. Any reason why the Jedi would like a Twi'lek onboard the ship at the last minute?"

"They had their reasons," Alec replied simply.

"Well?" Carth demanded. "What is it then?"

Alec did not reply straight away. He looked at Carth for a few minutes, seeming to be weighing whether or not it was necessary to tell him. Finally he sighed. "There is absolutely no need for you to know the reason. It is between the Jedi Council and the Republic."

Carth could feel the steam coming out of his head. "_WHAT_?!"

"Our job on this mission is to assist Bastila and the Jedi the best we can. It is not our place to make inquiries." Alec resumed to his desk duties.

"But…what if…"

"I don't believe she will be much of a problem if Bastila and the Jedi trusted her enough to take her onboard, if that was what you were worrying about, Carth"

"Alec..."

"Unless you don't trust them? They were handpicked by the Jedi Council for this mission. They are _all_ inexperienced in battles, Carth. Bastila herself had been a few battles, as the matter of fact. In case you don't know, she was the one who was gifted with the Battle Meditation ability and the one who killed Revan during one of her most recent clash." Alec signed a few electronic documents and sent them off by the wave of his hand: "Or you don't trust the Jedi Council?"

"No…"

"I've known you since Saul." Alec raised his eyes and looked at his old mate again. "I understand what you've been going through and why you are making these inquiries. But let me assure you, the Twi'lek is absolutely clean."

"What's in this mission?" Carth asked the question he'd been wondering since the ship took off from Coruscant.

"I know you are onboard the ship to oversee this mission, but I can't answer you on that one, either." Alec inserted a data chip to the protocol droid next to him. "All I can tell you is that we've been given the instructions to fully assist the Jedi onboard the ship to Taris. Now if you don't mind..." Alec pointed at the door with an arched brow, indicating for his old friend to leave.

Carth glared at the Admiral for a good long minute before exiting his office, cursing almost everything in this galaxy as he made his way back to the bridge. He did not like to be kept out of the loop, and this time those Jedi did exactly just that.

"ARRH!" The commander let out a frustrated yell and kicked the output on the hallway. There was definitely more on this Twi'lek, he could feel it. Why would a Twi'lek soldier be so important to those Jedi, and why had they specifically asked the ship to take her onboard at the very last minute? What exactly was this mission? If the Jedi wanted to go to Taris, they could have just flown there themselves, but why did they need a hammerhead like the _Endar Spire_ to guard them on the way there?

Whatever his thought was, the next thing he knew, he was being thrown against the wall by the sudden violent shaking of the ship. The alarm siren was echoing along the hallway.

They'd been attacked.

"Oi, Squidhead," The Republic soldier at the corner of the common room yelled. "Why are you onboard the _Endar Spire_? Shouldn't you be at some cantina?"

"Yeah, show us some dance moves, Twik!" His friends shouted. Then they all burst into laughter.

Skye Imarr rolled her eyes. _"Here we go again!"_

So many times, she was teased because of her race. It was indeed unusual for an alien race to be in the Republic, but you thought people wouldn't think or do those kinds of things these days. Oh, no, no. Somehow, she still was being picked more often than she had expected. Every time she was assigned to a new place, every time she would be picked at least once. It got a bit irritating after a while.

"Did you hear us, Squidhead?" Blast! They weren't leaving her alone this time, were they? Skye squared up her shoulders and continued her meal, pretending she had never heard anything.

"Hey, I am talking to you!" Rather offended by her aloof response, one of the soldiers came over to her table: "You, Twik!"

Skye remained unprovoked. She calmly pushed her glass to the droid in front of her: "Can I have more juma juice please? Thank you."

"DO SOME DANCE!" The soldier obviously very offended by her remote attitude. He grabbed her shoulder and raised his voice to the maximum. Lovely, now they got the attention of the entire common room.

"Take your hands off me." That was a bit too much. Skye finally looked at the soldier and snarled.

"Hey, Giles. Cut it off!" One of the soldier's friends obviously reckoned it was too far, too. "You had too much juma juice tonight!"

"No, today I really want to see this Twik doing some dance for me!" Giles barked back.

"I am not here to entertain you," said Skye in a warning tone.

"Well, what else is a Twi'lek onboard the ship for?" Giles seemed persistent. He put the other hand on her shoulder. "Tell you what, you can do a lap dance for me. I saw one do that on Nar Shaddaa once. It looked pretty neat. What do you say?"

Skye's answer was grabbing his left hand and twisting it. Giles let out a loud, painful yell, and he tried to punch her with his right hand. She dived with a flip; the next moment, she was behind him, her dining knife on his throat.

"If you don't mind," she said to Giles calmly, but with a hint of warning in her tone. "I am not here to entertain you, or any of the crew onboard this ship. I would much appreciate it if you would leave me alone. Now is that clear?"

Giles' face went bright red and he nodded silently.

"Good. Now, I would very much like to finish my dinner quietly, so I will be much appreciative if you can leave me alone for the rest of the night," said Skye seriously.

With another nod, Skye let go of him, watching him stumble back to his table, then calmly sat back to her chair and resumed having her meal. She was sure there wouldn't be any more of this kind of harassment for the rest of the journey, which was quite a relief, as she happened to be in desperate need of this.

Skye hadn't been feeling very well. She'd been bothered by her dreams for days. In one of those nightmares, she always was dueling with an unknown female Jedi. The Jedi had a strikingly pretty face and looked utterly familiar. But somehow Skye could not remember where she had met this Jedi before. The dreams repeated night after night, and she had a feeling this was not coincidence. Something wasn't right. She thought, _"Why__  
can't I remember those things? Did this really happen to me in the past?"_

As the matter of fact, she couldn't remember anything about her past; anything before she was placed onboard this ship was a big blur. What was she doing before she was assigned to this mission? Sure, she was a soldier, but where was she trained? Coruscant? They said she'd been in a few battles, but how come she never remembered any of them? Every time she tried to recall these events, her head hurt so much, it almost split in half.

And those damn dreams.

Dreams of her fighting with Jedi; dreams of her walking down some dark unknown ramps; dreams of her talking with a man in red suit and big robe, sometimes with steel covering most part of his face, sometimes not; dreams of her looking at a holocron that seemed like some kind of space navigation device… All of those dreams looked so real, so familiar and yet so strange. She wanted them to disappear, but at the same time she craved to see them every night.

"Who am I? What did I do in my life before this mission?" she whispered.

Of course, no one was able to answer that.

She sighed, pushed her meals aside and left the common room, planing to get some rest before her next shift although she knew fully well she probably wouldn't get any.

She returned to her room and lay down. Within minutes, her attempts to get some rest failed. She was disturbed, though not by the dreams this time. A sudden violent vibration almost knocked her off her bed, followed by the ear-cracking alarm that echoed through every corner of the _Endar Spire_.

They'd been attacked.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I am actually surprised people still remember this story. Thank you for your kind word. A few days late for Star War days but here is part two. Again I own nothing save for Skye Imarr.**

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**Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic**

_**Endar Spire**_

**Part Two**

Skye Imarr sat bolt upright. Every single cell of her body was in full alert. She scanned the room, quickly jumped of the bed, and moved towards the window to see if she could see anything, but another strong vibration stopped her. Before she managed to steady herself, there was another shock, sending her tumble backward and land on the floor.

"_There are some serious bombardments going on, much more serious than expected_," she thought.

She finally managed to steady herself when the door to her bunk slid open. A tall, muscle slabbed Republic soldier with spiky platinum short hair and a hook nose rushed in. Skye blinked, and blinked again. She had never seen him before, which wasn't all that surprising, considering there were hundreds of Republic soldiers and officers onboard each ship. Because of this, she wouldn't have expected to see every single one of them.

But this one actually just barged into her room?

"Skye Imarr?" The soldier scanned about the room for a bit before his hawk-like eyes locked with hers.

"Yes… " she frowned: "Who are you?"

"My name is Trask Ulgo." Trask introduced himself hurriedly. "We shared the same bunk. I was working on a different shift than yours, which kind of explains why you've never seen me."

"Oh."

"The _Endar Spire_ is now under heavy bombardments from the Sith. One of our jobs on this mission is to ensure the safety of Bastila. Now we must head to the bridge, where Bastila is," Trask continued.

"Bastila?" Skye puzzled.

"Bastila is one of the Jedi who's onboard this ship. Don't you remember?" The other solider frowned at her: "She is also the Commander of _Endar Spire_ on this mission. Now I've heard a lot about you, the only Twi'lek known in this sector, First Rank Elite soldier, high combat skills, excellent weapon knowledge... but all of these are nothing if you can't put them in the good use. You've sworn the oath to protect the Republic, like I did. It is time to fulfil your oath. So grab your gear now! Hurry! We don't have much time,"

The soldier instinct kicked in. Skye quickly changed her clothes, grabbed her necessary gear and followed Trask out of their room. The emergency lockdown had locked all doors on the _Endar Spire_, and adding the waves after waves of bombardments, it made their exit a little longer than they expected.

When they finally reached the hallway, someone tried to communicate with them via the com-link: "It's Carth Onasi here. We are under heavy bombardment from the Sith and the ship cannot hold on any longer. All crew are now ordered to assemble at the bridge!"

Skye quickly looked at Trask. _Carth Onasi_?

"Carth Onasi is an experienced and renowned war hero. He's been to more wars and battles then yours and mines combined," Trask explained as he dodged a bullet flying through the hallway and managed to return their enemy with a sonic grenade. "Damn! The advancing troops! This is not good…Anyway, when Carth said it was bad, it was bad! We better do exactly he ordered us to do…" Another dodges of the bullets: "All right, let's go!"

Carth did not expect Bastila to be this small. After all the data, holocron, and the stories he had heard about her, she actually was rather petite in person.

Her hair was tied into a few neat buns, revealing her heartshape face. Like him, she had a pair of brown eyes, but unlike him, she had long eyelashes, porcelain skin and full, rose-colored lips. At first glance, she was just like other Jedi: elegant, tranquil and everything. It was the slight arch on her right eyebrow and the hint of defiance in her eyes gave her away: she was a radical and arrogant woman. But somehow he suspected that was all her well-wielded cover, and her true personality had yet to be seen.

They were at the bridge. The deafening siren echoed everywhere. Oral status reports and further action enquiries were shouting from all direction; soldiers, officers and droids were everywhere, all panicked and under an extreme amount of pressure. From the window in front of them, they could see the Sith battle ships zooming around the _Endar Spire_, aiming turrets towards them and blasting them as they flew near. The ship shook violently each time they hit. In the distance, they could see a Sith vessel approaching. Larger than all those around it, they knew it was the leading ship instantly.

Carth's heart leaped. His eyes narrowed and immediately darkened with fury; he recognised this vessel: the _Leviathan_.

"THE HYPERDRIVE IS DOWN, SIR!" one officer shouted from far side of the Bridge.

"THE DEFENCE SHIELD HAS BEEN BADLY HIT! THE SHIELD IS DOWN!" Another damage report.

"STATUS REPORT: MASTER, TWO MORE TURRETS ARE DOWN." Protocol droid.

"The_Leviathan_?" Admiral Alec Baxter whispered as his face went from pale to as white as sheets. "...That kind of explains how they managed to find us. After all, we weren't exactly broadcasting where we were going."

"The Sith must had been keeping an eye on every vessel that was coming out of Coruscant," Bastila said, with hint of panic in her voice.

"Oh, they sure do, Bastila," said Carth. His voice was thickening with hatred. "Saul has every Republic ship's ID with him!"

"What do you mean?" Bastila looked at Carth questioningly. "Do you know this ship?"

Carth did not reply.

"WEST DOCKING BAY IS HIT, SIR!" an Engineer who'd been monitoring the console reported anxiously.

"SENT OUT THE REPAIR DROID UNIT!" Carth tried to draw his attention back to the present situation in order to give the crew orders.

"YES, SIR"

Carth sent a emergency message, asking all crews assemble at the bridge. When he logged out of the console, more scenario popped up.

"DECK 1 IS TAKING HEAVY CASUALITIES, SIR!"

Marvelous.

"ENGINE 1 IS DOWN!"

"THE POWER GENERATOR IS DOWN!"

"DO WE HAVE BACK UP POWER GENERATER FOR THE ENGERY SHIELD?" Alec asked.

"SITUATION REPORT: THE BACK UP POWER GENERATOR IS ALSO DOWN, MASTER." The droid reported.

"Damn it!" Alec began cursing loudly.

"Where are Syd and Gerald?" Bastila asked her Jedi companion.

"They are on their way, Bastila." Her companion whispered: "…This is a bad idea; we shouldn't have used the Republic ship. We should have using a smaller cargo ship."

"It's too late for that." Bastila replied sternly: "We—"

Her words were interrupted by Carth's loud warning yell: "LOOK OUT!"

One big flash and a loud bang sent everyone's head into spin. When the smoke cleared and they managed to re-steady themselves, they found out the Bridge had been hit. Half of the crew was dead.

Carth let go of Bastila, whom he had been protecting from the blast when the Bridge was hit, and asked, "Are you all right?"

"…Yes, I guess I am." Bastila dusted off the debris on her robe: "...Oh, no. Kyrra!"

Bastila's Jedi companion was hit.

She tried to use Force Revitalise on her, but it didn't work. Bastila closed her eyes tightly, seem trying to hold back the tears. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes again and looked for the Admiral.

"…Admiral, I think we better….OH, NO, Admiral!" Bastila let out a scream.

Carth spun his head around to where Admiral Baxter was standing and his blood turned cold.

Admiral Baxter had also been hit. He was lying not very far from them, hat skewed, eyes tightly shot with pain, and blood dribbling out of his mouth.

"Alec!" Carth rushed to his side: "NO!"

"Don't move, Admiral. Let me heal you." Bastila adjusted her breath, trying to use Force Heal on Alec. But Alec stopped her.

"…There's…there's no need, Bastila…." He coughed. "It's too late."

"No…just let me…" Bastila struggled to concentrate. Tears began to well up her eyes once more and overflowed within seconds.

"There isn't enough time…In a few minutes….Sith Advance Troop will….."Alec struggled to spill out his last words: "Carth…"

"Alec, don't speak. Preserve your energy.." Carth put his hand on Alec's.

"SIR, SITH ADVANCE TROOP BOARDING THE EAST DECKS DOCKING BAY ONE!" one surviving soldier shouted.

"Bastila, there are Dark Jedi on board." Another companion of Bastila rushed through the door. He seemed injured. "Syd is holding them! We better get going!"

"…Protect Bastila…protect… Jedi…." Alec's words began to break apart.

"Hang in there, buddy." Carth encouraged.

"No….Carth." Alec coughed. "Protect Bastila….ensure her safety…this is….our mission…" Alec's voice began to fade: "Protect them till the..END."

"No, Alec," Bastila and Carth both yelled: "NO!"

"SIR! SHALL WE RETREAT, SIR?"

Carth did not move.

"SIR?"

"…Tell all Republic forces, assemble at the escape pod room." Carth eventually stood up, gave the body of his dear friend one last look: "We are abandoning the _Endar Spire_."

"YES, SIR."

He glared at the_Leviathan_ outside the window. It looked like he would have to deal with it next time.

There was another hit, which took out more causality. Within minutes after that the Sith Advance Troops began to attack and take over the bridge. Carth and Bastila fought and managed to retreat to the escape pod room. There were among the last to leave; most of the crew were already gone.

"You and your companion get in first." Carth pointed at one of the remaining escape pod to Bastila. "I've just checked the console; there are still a few crew members left. I will stay behind and try to wait for them."

Bastila nodded, watching Carth began to communicate with the crew via the com-link. She turned and was about to enter the escape pod before she remembered something.

"Carth….I believe you had read the report." She turned towards Carth again.

"Yes." Carth knew exactly what report she was referring to.

"Is she…still alive? I can sense she still is."

"…Yes, the console indicates she still is." Carth took a recheck at the console monitor.

"Make sure she is alive," Bastila said.

"Why is she that important?" Carth blurted out the question that had been circling around his head since he read the report.

"Because…." For a moment, she seemed to be preparing to tell Carth, but changed her mind in the last minute. "Just make sure she is safe. Will you? It's an order."

"You may not know me, Bastila." Carth turned back to the console monitor, "but I never leave my men behind."

"It's good to hear." Bastila threw him a quick smile: "I will use my Battle Meditation to ensure you and the remaining crew escape the _Endar Spire_ safely."

"Thanks. Now, GO!" Carth waved his hand, indicating her to hurry up.

"See you at the surface, Carth. _May the Force be with you_." Bastila said to Carth, then she quickly climbed into the escape pod and shut the door. Carth pressed the DISCHARGE ESCAPE POD bottom. The pod made a POOF sound before detached itself from the ship. It drifted away from the ship a little bit before the engine started, sending the pod further away and towards the nearest planet and their destination: _Taris_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic**

**Endar Spire**

**Part Three**

Skye gave the vibroblade in her hand a wave. The cold steel blade drew a beautiful arch, and as it reflected the light looked as though it was glowing. For a moment it seemed as though it were a lightsaber. Skye had a familiar yet strange sensation. Had she done this before? How did she know what it was like to wield a lightsaber?

"Excellent melee weapon. The Sith sure have some good taste. You found this on an ordinary trooper like this dead fella?" She gave the body at her feet another good kick.

"Oh, believe me, their weapons have always been much more outstanding than ours." Trask shoved a few capsules of medpacs that he had just looted from the dead Sith soldier into his backpack while checking if there were more troopers around them. "The Republic has been trying their best to provide us some good weapons. Our resources have been stretched to the maximum. Compared to them-" He also gave the body another good kick. "-we are nothing. Somehow, they've always managed to get all the resources they've wanted. Quite a mystery, if you ask me."

They had managed to progress through two-thirds of the hallway and were standing not very far from the turbolift that led them towards the Bridge Quarters. The number of Sith forces they had encountered was incredible. Skye and Trask spent a lot of time just trying to go through them. Damages from the Sith bombardment could easily being seen here and there. Every couple of meters, they spotted a droid trying its best repairing a blown-up output terminal. There were a few times that they had to change their route because the door that led them to the Bridge was so badly dent even Trask couldn't open.

"Well, let's hope this stupid thing still works, or else we will have to find another way again." Trask pressed the button on the console. "THANK THE FORCE! It's still working!"

The turbolift made a few trembling noises and started moving. Skye used this small break to reload her blaster and check the medpac supply on her belt. The Carth Onasi guy chimed in via the com-link again.

"This is Carth Onasi. Report your position."

"In the turbolift, sir," Trask replied.

"Then you are not very far from the Bridge, Officer Ulgo. Excellent!" Carth sounded relieved. "Be careful once you leave the turbolift. There are troopers patrolling right outside that area."

"Thank you, sir."

"Anyone with you, Ulgo?" Carth asked.

"Officer Skye Imarr, sir."

Carth mumbled a few inaudible words before saying, "All right, good luck. Carth Onasi out."

The lift reached the Bridge Quarters. Skye and Trask pulled out their weapons, preparing for a good fight ahead. Sure enough, as soon as the door opened, they came under heavy gunfire. Tired of keep having to stop and reload, Skye soon switched to the vibroblade. She jumped into the midair, body arched into an elegant angle and her lekku hopped accordingly. Landing on the top of a couple of Sith troopers, and with a slight twist of her wrist, she waved the blade and sliced them one by one like a hot knife cutting through butter.

"_Echani combat_ style!" Trask gushed after blasting off a small group of troopers that stood in front of the broken door. "I only saw this once in my career. WOW, I thought they had become extinct! You _are_ good. Where did you learn that? Do they train that in the Republic these days?"

"….I don't know." Skye looked the vibroblade in her hand confusedly. "I can't remember."

_Yes, where did she learn this?_

"Wherever you got that from, I can see now why they held you in such a high regards," Trask smiled. "Now, we'd better keep moving. There isn't much time."

Nodding, Skye watched as Trask opened the door and cautiously checked if there were more troopers through the gap as the door slid open.

The door was open, but there were no troopers.

Instead, there were two Jedi, one in dark armor with heavy shadow under his eyes and the other in a light silk-like fabric, engaging in a heated duel.

"Jedi!" Trask whispered at Skye's ear. "This is a battle way beyond our ability. We'd better leave them."

Skye stared at the two dueling Jedi. The two of them waved the lightsabers in their hands with ease, as if they were born with it, and the combat style their bodies formed was intriguing. The humming voices and the occasional clashing noises echoed through the entire section of the hallway. All of the sudden time seemed to stop, as if someone had cast a spell. It was just like one of those dreams, Skye horrifically realized. Her head began to hurt again, and for some unknown reason, she suddenly had a very strong urge to overtake one of the Jedi and fought with the other herself.

The two Jedi fought for quite a while. Finally the one with in light silk-like robe managed to kill off the other. Unfortunately there was an explosion not very far from her. It was too much for her, as the fighting already had worn her off, and the explosion caused great injuries to her body. She collapsed and died.

Skye rushed over. The Jedi in the silk robe lay near the wall, looking rather at peace.

"_But she died painfully. How could she be in peace?_" she thought.

"Damn!" Trask cursed loudly as they began to advance along the hallway again. "She was one of the Jedi who accompanied Bastila. We could have used her."

They finally arrived at the Bridge, fending off more troopers along the way. Trask stood near the door, leaned his ear near, and indicated Skye to get prepared.

"It's too quiet," he said. "Something's not right in there. Get your gears ready just in case."

Skye pulled out another short sword and held it firmly in her left hand. She took a deep breath and gave Trask, who was reloading his rifle, an affirmative nod.

"All right, I am ready," she said.

X X X

Carth watched the escape pod launch and now turned his attention back on the security console. He ran a quick diagnosis and estimated that the ship could hold on roughly for another hour—unless the Sith set off a detonator to blow her up, of course. He also did a quick scan on the crew member tracking device and sadly found out there were only two officers left: Trask Ulgo and the Twi'lek Skye Imarr.

He ran his fingers through the hair and let out a frustrated sigh. From the quietness outside the door that sealed him off from the Sith troopers, he figured that the remaining resistance was probably gone. He glanced at blaster on his hip and couldn't help but wonder how long it would last before blades or bullets ran through his body if those devils decided to come through the door.

"Skye Imarr paging Carth Onasi, over." The Twi'lek tried to communicate to him via the com-link. Carth stared at the panel for a few minutes. This was the first time he heard her voice. It actually sounded surprisingly nice. There wasn't a trace of Twi'lek tong in her.

"Yes, Carth Onasi here, over," he replied.

"We just went past the Bridge. Officer Ulgo and I had encountered some…problems." Skye's voice began sounding a bit distraught.

"Problems?" Fear began to rise within Carth. "What problems?"

"There were.. Dark Jedi onboard."

"Yes, I was aware of that."

"We were retreating from the Bridge and progressing towards where you are, sir. A Dark Jedi came in. Trask…Trask…." She couldn't finish.

"NO!" Carth looked at the crew member tracker again. Now there was only one crew left: Skye Imarr.

"Trask tried to hold off the Dark Jedi, sir." Skye managed to continue after a few seconds. "He locked himself and the Jedi in the hallway to the Engine Bay turbolift!"

"DAMN!" Carth cursed. That was the direct route to the escape pod.

"…Please advise the alternative route, sir."

"…You will need to go through the door on your left, Officer Imarr." Carth took a deep breath and tried to calm down as much as he could. "But be careful. My scanner picked up at a squadron of troopers guarding right behind the door. You might need a stealth generator."

"Right. I will do that. See you in a minute. Skye Imarr out." Skye switched off the com-link.

Carth sat down on the floor and buried his face in his hands. This mission had turned into an absolute disaster. Not only had the Sith found them and defeated them, but also killed another one of his best friends: Admiral Alec Baxter. He had encountered the _Leviathan_, as he had wanted to for a long time. But all he could do was watched the ship from a distance, unable to touch it, not to mention he had been unable to reach Saul.

He would have to wait until next time. But when would the next time be? Did he have to sign up for another countless mission to bump into him again? Or would he even be alive after this to continue pursuing his old mentor again?

"Force help me!" He let out a quiet sigh.

There were some explosions outside the door. Sounded like Skye Imarr managed to make it through those damn troopers. He stood up and grabbed his blaster just in case it wasn't the sole remaining officer who came through the door.

The door slid open. He could see the dead troopers lying in the room outside and a blown up output terminal. Obviously someone had managed to overload it via the computer console, taking all the troopers at once.

"Excellent work!" he thought.

He waited patiently for Skye Imarr to switch off the stealth generator and reveal herself.

The area in front of him began to change. It became a bit blurry at first, like the hot air rising from the road surface in a hot summer day. Then slowly, there was a slim but tall figure emerging out of thin air.

Carth blinked his eyes.

And again.

He could not believe what he saw.

He was fully aware of the beauty of Twi'lek women. After all, they were quite well known throughout the galaxy. He had encountered a few of them in the past.

But...this…

He thought he saw an angel.

She was the most beautiful Twi'lek, or any woman, he had ever seen. Her skin was white with a hint of blue, now shimmering with sweat because of all the combat and sneaking around. Her deep blue eyes, as dark as the galaxy, were now all watery. She obviously had been in tears a few minutes earlier, and that made her look incredibly fragile. This was the elite soldier the Jedi Council viewed so important, and the one whom Bastila had ordered him to protect as she left in the escape pod?

"Commander Carth Onasi?" Skye put away her weapon. Carth noticed she had a pair of slightly thin but sensual and gorgeous lips.

"Yes." Carth put his blaster down. " Skye Imarr?"

"The one and only." Skye raised her eyebrow.

They both let out a sigh of relief.

"Exc….excellent job." Carth turned his head around to the escape pod console, pretending to check the panel so he wouldn't keep staring at her. "I'm glad you made it. Now, Bastila's escape pod has already left. You and I are the only two that are left. Any minute now, the Sith will blow up this ship, so we don't have much time."

Skye gave him an acknowledging nod, quickly walking towards the escape pod where she opened the door and began to shovel everything in. Carth shot a few small glances at her while still pretending busy with the console. She had a pair of sensationally long and elegant legs, wrapped tightly in her knee height soldier army boots. He was sure this was an ordinary soldier uniform, but somehow she looked stunning in it. The swift but graceful way she moved was just amazing. Carth felt absolutely stupid for staring, but he just couldn't help himself.

"_ We are in the middle of the mission, for Force sake. The ship is about to blow up!_ _This...this is something a teenage boy does, not a full-grown man like me_!" he thought. "_What about Morgana? I had a wife, for Force's sake! Even if she is no longer with me, shouldn't I be loyal to her still_?"

Unaware of his internal torment, Skye finished loading the escape pod. She turned around and her face suddenly turned icy. Before Carth could react, she pulled out her blaster and pointed it straight at him.

Sweat broke out across his forehead. Whatever angel he had seen in this Twi'lek woman was flying off to the Unknown Regions. Now standing in front of him was a soldier and a killer. Carth began to curse quietly. He shouldn't have dropped his guard just because… He snapped his eyes closed tightly as Skye began to pull the trigger.

BANG, BANG, BANG.

The groaning and collapsing noises from behind made Carth realize that the blaster was not for him. A Sith trooper had managed to sneak behind him and was one second from sticking the force stick through his body.

Skye calmly packed away her blaster and threw Carth an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, sir."

"Arh..that's fine." Carth stared at her for a few moments in stunned silence before he opened his mouth again. "Right, let's get moving. After you." He pointed at the escape pod.

Skye quickly climbed in, with Carth closely behind her. He gave the vessel once last look before shutting the door.

"_Farewell, Endar Spire_!" he said to himself.

The escape pod discharged from the ship. Within minutes, there was an explosion from the middle of the Endar Spire, first cracking it in half. Then the whole ship detonated, turning itself into a fireball.

The _Endar Spire_ was dead.


End file.
